Museums in Stuttgart
Stuttgart is a culture-rich city with a wide variety of museums to visit. As in any major city, you can stroll through galleries spanning various art movements, discover regional history and cultures from around the world, and explore the world of science. Stuttgart also has more specialized museums: marvel at the beautiful vehicles that originate from local manufacturers, learn all about local wine chocolate production, or check out the world’s largest museum devoted to pigs!
Art Museums
Kunstmuseum Stuttgart
Stuttgart’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art was built and opened in 2005, so it’s no surprise the glass cube of a building looks so modern itself. The museum houses one of the most important collections of the work of Otto Dix as well as works from Willi Baumeister, Adolf Hölzel, Dieter Roth, among others.
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Stuttgart’s State Gallery brings together history and the present day. One side of the museum, the Alte Staatsgalerie, was constructed in the 19th century as the Museum of Picture Art. In 1984 a new building of controversial postmodern design, the Neue Staatsgalerie was connected to the first. Today the Old State Gallery houses art from 1300 to 1900, while the New Staatsgalerie houses more recent works.
History & Science Museums
Stadtpalais Stuttgart
The new Stuttgart City Museum opened in April 2018 in the Wilhelmspalais, which was built in 1840 for the princesses Marie and Sophie of Württemberg. The museum takes visitors through the history of the city, but is also a place where the present and future of the city can be explored and imagined.
Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg
The Museum of Baden-Württemberg History was built in the postmodern style and its exhibits are also staged in an architecturally appealing presentation. Short texts, films and other media provide a wealth of interesting facts about the state and its capital Stuttgart, from the time of Napoleon to today.
Württembergisches Landmuseum
State Museum of Württemberg is spread across 9 locations and presents a range of historical treasures. The primary location is housed in the Altes Schloss, or Old Castle, and features a delightful collection of archeological artifacts and a significant medieval art collection.
Lindenmuseum
Stuttgart’s Ethnological Museum is one of the best such museums in Europe. The extensive collections provide insights into the everyday culture of foreign peoples as well as the history of art and culture across all inhabited continents.
Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart
Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History is housed in two exhibition buildings. In the Museum am Löwentor, you can see world-famous fossil finds from the primeval times of southwestern Germany, including the oldest dinosaurs in Europe, the oldest turtles in the world, and the uniquely preserved sea dinosaurs of the Swabian Alb. Schloss Rosenstein houses the biological exhibition, which presents an overview of today’s animal kingdom and the Earth’s major ecosystems with six elaborately designed biome displays.
Transportation Museums
Porsche Museum
The Porsche Museum is one of the most spectacular car museums in the world. The sleek spiral path through the displays mimics the smooth lines of the more than 80 vehicles showcased.
Mercedes-Benz Museum
Take a journey into the history of automobiles at the Mercedes-Benz Museum! There are 1,500 exhibits that take you through 125 years of automotive history.
Strassenbahnmuseum Stuttgart
The Tram Museum of Stuttgart is housed in a historic tram depot dating back to 1929. The museum displays historic streetcars from 1868 to 1986 as well as information on the development of public transportation in Stuttgart. The museum is the starting point for the two revived “oldtimer” lines.
Specialty Museums
Weinbaumuseum Stuttgart
The Wine Production Museum of Stuttgart presents information on historic and modern viticulture in Stuttgart. A visit to the museum is the perfect complement to vineyard tours and wine tastings for those interested in understanding the regional characteristics of Stuttgart’s wine production.
Museum Ritter
The Ritter Museum is in fact an art museum offering changing exhibitions and an overview of works of art related to the subject “square,” in honor of the shape of Ritter Sport Chocolate. Next door is a building housing an exhibition on chocolate in general and the company history of Ritter Sport in particular, as well as a factory outlet of their chocolate.
Schweinemuseum
Stuttgart’s Pig Museum is the world’s largest. It is appropriately housed in the former building of the slaughterhouse administration, built in 1912 in Art Nouveau style. The museum has 50,000 exhibits presenting the art and cultural history of the pig.